The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-03-03

| 49, VIZ 4ICAINO. odii. 1901. IldNllln Stctl
how the Mexican aristocracy make love and
marry, let us descend to the other end of the
social gamut and note some of Cupid's capers
among the peasantry.
In this miScaled Republic the great gulf be-
tween rich and poor is more firmly fixed than
in any monarchy, and forever impossible.
Social status is not so much a question of mon
ey as of caste, and nowhere in the world are
distinctions more clearly defined
The so-caIled GLOVER classes" in Mexico are
unlike any other on Gods green earth, because
the poorer they are. and the lower down in the
social scale, the more pious and apparently
happy they are. The city poor, whose adobe
huts in the higher attitudes and cane-stalk
J0cNlS in the terra cMiente outline the SUI
burls of all the larger towns and straggle
away for miles beyond incorporated limits
are by no means the vicious and discontented
element which may be found among the in
digcnt of London, Paris. or New York. No
'>trkes" originate with this class, nor mid
night broils nor revolutions, and among them
are no low dives, nor the dens of thieves and
murerers; but they are peaceful and inoffen-
Sive cattle, little above the beasts of the field
except III the intensity of their religious con,
yictions. Ii Il traveller ventures among them
however unprotected, not only is he perfectly
safe as to life and property, but any service
they can render him is chcerfully performed
If he is hungry, they will share their last
| tnheH0 though short Of food themselves, and
give him their only blanket for a bed. If he
needs guidance on his journey. they will ac-
company him any number of miles. trudgng
on foot beside his hor>e,-and can seldom be
induced to accept any reward for their services.
But they are poor enough. heaven knows. !.
The salary OF The head of the house, (wfen he
| works. Which is only when hlIn"ry), averages
from six to twenty cents per diem, and upon
that irregular income The family manage to eX-
l>t. nave observed Il singular circumstance
not, however. peculiar to MeXico-that invari-
ably the poorer the family the more do dogs
and children abound. if want and sCualor
| We're tavorite conditions for eNtraor,linary i'll
crease of the census. both brute and human,
But, happily,
NATURE FAvoRs THE POOR
and the lazy in this land of sunshine. Fuel is
| not necessity, and food enough to sustain
life may be had anywhere for the gathering.
There need be no house rent to pay, for any
man may build himself Il caSa with a few sun
| baked bricks of his own making; or with
| stalks of the wild bamboo, stuck upright i'm the
ground and thatcLed with dried grass or span
| lsll-tiacger leaves.
| But ii is in the farmin. communities. among
| the Pr"n population which depends entirely
upon fhc great hacien,la>. that primitive MeNi-
co Is seen IN all lis native picturesIucnesS.
| these enormous estates are unique Institutions
| carried on with all the pomp and circumstance
| OF the ftU,ial system. but lacking the best fea-
| lures of those historic DAYS Some of them are
| magnificent domains. surprising in extent the
| prlnclpalitles of many Old World potcntateS,
and fully illustrating the extremes of wealth
| and poverty which nowhere else are 50 clearly
| defined.
| oi course the central feature Of each hacicli-
'ia Is the residence Of the proprietor or his rep
| re>enatiVr-a veritable castle though built of
| adobe. lis innunerablc rooms all opening upon
! an inner court and capable of housing IN entire
| village.
Then there is the chapel. with its constantly
| burning raiidies, its caricatures of Saints and
| N"tlNr offerings of fruit and grain piled upon
the altar to ensure bountiful harveStS-a sane
| tuary whose silent bu1 powerful influence
keeps the whole community in >ubiection for
the resident priest 5 Il e rel ruler of the lives
and destInle>. the souls and bodies of the peon
colnlnuncant>.
Inside the massive walls, with their corner
| towers and ritc->litS that surround every hat
eien'lii, are corrals and >tock-yard> to which
every night the shepherds must bring their
| locks ana herds for security, from possible
| RAIDS by robbers or rcvolutioniStS. Within
| these battered Wal>-many of which have
Wfh>tood more than one desperate sieye-are
also the jrrais of the poems. from tf,y to a
hundred nuts. and sometimes even more on the
| larger estates besides barns and >tore-houses,
granerle>, bakery,-in short everything neces-
>arA to the life of village.
A. rule. the most interesting objects which
the visitor will lind on IL hacienda are the
MuCHACIIAs
or glr-peonS, than whom Il more picturesque
type OF pea>antry cannot be met on the hills Of
Normandy or in the wales of switzerland.
W hen the numbering old Stagr-coacl, laden
with passengers. comes clattering up to the
gates Of u way>he hacienda to crave shelter
f,,
gray walls in answer to the drivers CHEEKY
"BHeadS. diGS, SenoreS!,' is the ,uuchuch0.
True 10 the fibre of curiosity which run.
through the nature of every feminine ,escen..
ant OF Eve. she is anxious to know who has
arrived, she wants to watch their descent from
the diligencia and all their subsequent move
mentS. and she is quite willing to get up a fir
| taion on the instant with any who may inter-
est her.
Whatever her age. the mtlchacha is but
srown-up child. fully developed physically at
the age of ten. always simple, picturesque and
contented. Her name is probably Dolores.
Refu"io. Guadalupe. or Antonia. Though she
never saw bonnet in her life and would not
know ii from a fish net if you should give her
one. her face is never frcckled aud her nut
brown skin is soft as velvet, never having been
roughcncd by soap. powder cosmetics. Her
hands and feet are very small though never
manacled by gloves. shoes or stockings, her
limbs are invariably we'll rounded aud her bust
superb Her jetty hair, tied at the ends bv a
bit of bryht-hued ribbon, hangs behind her
| bare brown shoulders in two long braid>. 1t is
not "banged' over the eyes like a poode's, nor
crimped like an Etheopian's but parted straight
through the middle. is glossy the ravens
wing and black as the famous 0tzaJ0tche of
her native hills. The freaks of tickle fashion
make no change in her attire, which is always
| the >ame-noti,ing on earth but one short skirt
| and Il loose chemiSe. the latter generally en-
| broidered about the shoulders, leaving her
Symmetrlcal arms entirely naked, and in fact
most OF her person to the waist. She is Ell
| tireiy unconscious Of a want of further cloth
| Ing. and the utmost ''smartng up" she ever in
dulges in is to add string of red beads to her
| neck, a brass bracelet or two to her arms. and
| to hang Il pair of enormous silver hoops in her
| ears. For church wear and such festive oc-
ca>on> as bull-tght or tuncion del goUo she
| has blue or black cotton reJOSO-a sort of
| long shaw which with one careless toss she
winds tightly around her head and shoulders.
| The mHch"cha is always the same,-whether
she be the child of peom, or of Il house SER
| want, or even the heiress Of n small farmer,-a
| product peculiar to rural Mexico; attractive in
| youth, an Old woman at thirty; vet unSophisti-
| Gated as baby if she lives to the age of eighty
She is governed by the
| TROPICAL INSTINCTS
| Of Il passionate race rather than by the tram
| meS of feducatlon-coquettish by nature, yet AS
| innocent of premeditated grossncss was Eve
| before the fashion of ig-eaves. As may be
| lHt nldHItT III winch SUCH creature
is wooed and won hymcnially is as unique as
| herself. She is hampered by no such rigid rules
of etiquette is environ her ariStocratic neigh
| bor. Juante. whose courtship and marriage we
| lately witnessed therefore the Mexican liaitlee
| following the bent of her inclinations, does her
| full share of the wooiny, and if crossed in love
| or aroused to jealousy has been known to ham
die dagger with the fury Of Jae.
| Country youth of this class ''pair OFF, natur-
| ally as birds mate in spring-time, and do not
appear to consider privacy in any way essential
| to the plightng of their vows Indeed the first
| declaration of preference and that most priced
by the recipient is generally made in public at
some grand FWucion de t0rr0s (bull-tight), or
| in course of those other favorite equestrian
| sports known as buli-tain", or El Gallo, the
| rooster.
| What dancing and roller-skating are to young
| Americans, these equestrian advertisements are
| to the boys and girls of rural Mexico. If IA
| bull-tight is to be held anywhere within rad-
| us of twenty miles. to deprive a muchacha of
going would be to intlict upon her the severest
| punishmentS; for there the gallant rdncherOs
display their prowess, agility and graceful
horsemanship, and there they indicate to all their
| little world who are their cortejdS, or sweet
| hearts,-each by laying at the bare, brown feet
| Of his chosen muchacha the trophies he wins
| Bull-tights have been often described that
| we need not enter into their details here = but
| that sport called
| CALEA DE TORROS.
| or bu-tailing, can seldom be seen except in re-